


Two cents

by yuzurusjorts



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Fluff, M/M, a bit of creepy behavior from ouma but it’s not that heavy(at least i think it isn’t), it’s not really shippy tbh more like ouma loves saihara but they turn into best friends, pre-game, short panic attack in the epilogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-03-01
Packaged: 2019-03-18 18:46:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13687602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuzurusjorts/pseuds/yuzurusjorts
Summary: If you asked Kokichi Ouma what he is, he would say he is just a very passionate and dedicated fan of the two things he loves the most in the whole world: Danganronpa and Shuichi Saihara.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, this isn’t my first time posting in the Danganronpa tag but my other SaiOuma fic was written fully in portuguese and I doubt it reached a lot of people so that’s why I decided to write something else(this time in english). I never really thought a lot about the character’s pre-game selves but recently I’ve been feeling like I really wanted to write some pre-game SaiOuma so here I am now. 
> 
> English isn’t my first language so please excuse grammar mistakes(I tried to edit the fic but then again there’s only so much I can do orz) and enjoy it to your heart’s content!
> 
>  **ps.:** happy valentine’s day!

Kokichi felt his conscience return as he slowly opened his eyes and blinked repeatedly, trying to push the sleepiness off in an attempt to get over with the dizzy feeling of waking up as soon as possible. He pushed his right hand under his pillow in a rush, grabbing the source of the song that blasted at full volume around his room right now. The phone’s screen was the only source of light in the almost complete darkness that was Kokichi’s room, and he would most surely have panicked at the lack of any light if it wasn’t for the fact his attention was completely focused on the screen, where a notification balloon popped right above the alarm settings. The notification was all he’d been waiting for since weeks ago, and also the reason why he had set up this stupidly loud and obnoxious alarm at such an ungodly hour, because really? Why else would anyone wake up at 4am if not to check a new notification from the official Danganronpa twitter? If this morning wasn’t such a special moment for him, Kokichi was sure he would be feeling annoyed at the alarm, why did he choose to set a remix of Usami’s theme song from the second game as his alarm again? But none of it mattered, a smile crept into his face and a bubbly feeling of excitement grew inside his stomach as he hurriedly tapped the button to turn the alarm off, returning the room to its original state of complete silence and nearly complete darkness. 

Kokichi’s sleep deprived eyes shone, scanning the screen and his own timeline desperately looking for the tweet that had just been posted by Team Danganronpa. They always tweeted their most important notices every Saturday at 4am, and this occasion was no different. The tweet was about the upcoming Danganronpa convention that would happen next week, and Kokichi made sure so attentively read every single line and piece of information provided. He had bought his tickets for said convention two months ago, only a few minutes after the Danganronpa website started selling them online, and he was glad he chose to immediately break his piggy bank in order to pay for it since, apparently, the tickets had completely sold out only two days after. 

Kokichi wouldn’t consider himself unhealthy obsessed with the killing game. He knew there were many fucked up people who were fans because they loved to watch people suffering and falling into despair, without hope to cling to, or because they just loved the gore-y and bloody murders and executions. None of it applied to Kokichi, really, he felt grossed thinking of dead bodies and he couldn’t picture himself killing someone at all. The thing he thought was the most hypnotizing about Danganronpa was how well the story flowed, the characters and even how they always tried to insert new elements to each season without losing the consistency they always clung to and without making it boring or repetitive even after 51 seasons. He just loved Danganronpa so much, every time a new season aired it brought a new reason to keep living despite everything else, and for that he was infinitely grateful. He knew the thought of killing someone was completely foreign to him, but watching people murder each other while fighting for their beliefs on TV was just so weirdly enchanting.

So, if you asked Kokichi what kind of fan he was, he would say he’s just a very passionate fan, with a pure love for the game. The kind of fan that collects official merch and draws fanart, the kind of fan that spends most of his time reading discussions and threads about the game online. Not one of the gross, murder obsessed weirdos who called themselves fans. Just thinking about these kind of people made Kokichi angry, he gritted his teeth while scrolling down the list of blocked users from his twitter account. The list was so long, but he couldn’t help it! Glorifying murder outside of the killing game was simply unforgivable. He has been in this fandom for years now and the only person he could say for sure never disappointed him was a boy who was also the first person he followed upon starting to get involved in the fandom.

Shuichi Saihara was a really popular fan and one of the most dedicated, his love for the game was so intense that even the official Team Danganronpa accounts noticed him and followed him back on all social medias. During the years Kokichi has been following Shuichi, the other boy’s passion seemed to never end or even falter, and that was one of the reasons Kokichi was so interested in him. 

”Talk of the devil...” Kokichi whispered to himself as a new notification popped up, this time it was from Shuichi’s account. Shuichi was one of the two accounts whose Kokichi had turned notifications on for, the other obviously being Team Danganronpa. 

**saisai** @shuu1chi — _Are you guys excited for the con next week? I already have my tickets, I’m sure it will be an amazing experience provided to us by Team Danganronpa!_

__

__

The tweet itself wasn’t very special or abnormal, Shuichi often tweeted right after Team Danganronpa’s announcements, retweeting the official tweets and promoting all Danganronpa-related events with enthusiasm, even going so far as to translate some of the official announcements into english for the non-japanese part of the fandom. But even if it wasn’t anything out of ordinary, Kokichi still kicked the blankets off himself, rushing to turn the lights on and sitting on the edge of the bed. He reached for his nightstand, taking a small purple notebook and a pen out of one of the drawers.

”So Shuichi-chan is going to the con next week too, huh? Maybe it’s time to pay him a visit.” As Kokichi opened the notebook, it revealed many pages filled with rushed scribbling, printed out screenshots of Shuichi’s tweets and a bunch of blurred pictures of a boy that could barely be recognized as Shuichi. After scribbling down a few more words on a blank page, Kokichi got up and started changing, putting the notebook in his jacket’s pocket and throwing his pajamas into the laundry basket outside his room before rushing downstairs and leaving his house.

At 5:30am the streets were mostly empty save for the occasional businessmen who started working very early despite it being Saturday. The sun was still hiding in its majority but dim rays of sunlight still found their way through some of the clouds in the sky, giving the whole city a kinda haunted atmosphere. None of it bothered Kokichi as he walked towards the train station in the suburb, his phone in his right hand repeatedly refreshing Shuichi’s twitter page while his left hand gripped the coins he would soon use to pay for the train ticket. Looking at some of Shuichi’s old tweets immersed Kokichi in memories. It hasn’t been long, only about half a year, since this routine started. 

At the start it was small things, such as trying to find out what kind of food Shuichi preferred- he didn’t have a strong preference when it came to salty food but he would always pick sour candy over sweet ones, Kokichi was able to tell based on the pictures Shuichi posted of his meals. Then it evolved into more personal things, like finding out Shuichi’s full name- that he never displayed anywhere except his personal account on Tumblr, which was quite hard to find- or trying to find out how old Shuichi was- again, he never exposed that information on any of his public accounts and Kokichi had to read every single post on Shuichi’s personal blog to be able to finally confirm that the boy was, in fact, 17 years old and would soon turn 18 on September 7. And then it evolved into even more personal things, so right now Kokichi was proud to tell no one that he was not only Shuichi’s biggest fan, but he also knew everything about the other boy, from his favorite color- navy blue- to the color of his favorite undergarments- dull grey- to his exact classroom and high school he attends to- class 3-C, Spring Field Academy.

In the end, if you asked Kokichi Ouma what he is, he would say he is just a very passionate and dedicated fan of the two things he loves the most in the whole world: Danganronpa and Shuichi Saihara.


	2. Single Chapter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey I couldn’t stop writing since I posted the prologue last night and, well, I ended up just writing everything at once so I’m sorry if some of you were expecting slow updates. I still hope you will be able to enjoy it. This single chapter is about how Kokichi and Shuichi met each other and how their friendship starts, and I wanted it to be the main focus of this fic, hence why it’s the longest chapter. 
> 
> Also sorry for mentioning Chiaki Nanami so many times, she’s pre-game Kokichi’s absolute favorite character so it’s only natural for him to kind of obsess over her(but not in a creepy way like with Shuichi.)
> 
> If you didn’t notice, Kokichi is totally a fan of Hope!

The memory of that day one week ago was still fresh in Kokichi’s mind. It was a one and a half hour long ride to that specific place he often went to, and after leaving the train, he had walked twenty minutes more before arriving at the front gate of Spring Field Academy. It was such a nice coincidence too, that it was one of the only academies which offered special classes on weekends. And of course Kokichi knew Shuichi took extra english classes on Saturday- he must really take the being a translator thing seriously. He had sat down on a wood bench and waited patiently, until the students started to arrive and go through the gates inside the academy. All was going according to plan, after all classes started at 7:30am so he only needed to wait 10 minutes.

And again, all according to plan, the person Kokichi had been waiting for finally showed up. Shuichi had crossed the street and walked towards the academy with an annoyed expression on his face, Kokichi noticed he wasn’t wearing his hat, and that scene made his heart flutter, because Shuichi always wore his hat no matter what. Somehow the sight felt way too intimate to Kokichi, and he felt his palms starting to get sweaty, Shuichi’s face was still as handsome as ever, even if it was adorned with an annoyed expression, and the piece of his hair that stuck up from the top of his head was so incredibly cute and charming at the same time. Kokichi had thanked all the existing Gods when Shuichi walked past him without sparing him even a glance, because he was sure he had been staring like an idiot, and he really didn’t want to be found out just yet. 

As soon as he was sure Shuichi was a few steps far from him and too distracted to notice his presence, Kokichi had quickly pulled out his phone and opened the camera. There was just no way he was going to miss out on this opportunity! He took a chain of 20 pictures in a row, just to be safe, you know? And got up from the bench a few minutes later, walking back to the train station, barely able to hold back the giggles that escaped his lips and the butterfly-like feeling inside his guts.

Back to the present, Kokichi sat in his bed admiring the newly printed photos he had taken that day. Most of them were blurry and all you could see in them was a messy shadow of black and blue hues. Kokichi clicked his tongue in frustration, discarding the photos one by one upon noticing that out of 20 pictures none of them were able to capture even a blink of Shuichi’s beauty. And to think that he waited one week to be able to print them out! 

“Mahiru Koizumi would be totally disappointed in me if she saw this.” Kokichi pouted at the thought of one of his favorite Danganronpa characters looking down on him, and was ready to throw all the photos in the trash in the corner of his room, before his eyes stopped and stared at the last photo in the pile. That one looked like it had been taken from a better angle, and you could easily see the shape of Shuichi’s back in it, his bag hanging loosely from his shoulder, and the unmistakable shape of his hair, you could even see the cute cowlick that stuck up! 

”Yes, yes, yes!” Kokichi smiled and jumped up and down, holding the picture close to his chest. This wasn’t a total failure after all. He quickly discarded all the other not-so-perfect photos and grabbed the glue from his nightstand, opening his Shuichibook- Kokichi named it himself, no need to applause!- and carefully glueing the picture to the last blank page. He grabbed the purple glitter pen he had taken from his mother’s bag the night prior, and drew a few hearts around the picture before adding a bullet under it.

• _Today I will surely befriend Shuichi!_

Admiring his work, Kokichi nodded to himself with a determined smile. He would leave to the Danganronpa convention soon, and use all the knowledge he had gathered during the past months to befriend Shuichi. And Shuichi wouldn’t be like the people from school, who bullied Kokichi and beat him up, or like Kokichi’s neighbors, who made fun of him and called him names, never trying to befriend him at all. No, Shuichi would be different because Kokichi knew he wasn’t that kind of person. He wasn’t mean, he was nice and kind to everyone online.

With happy and hope-filled thoughts flooding his mind, Kokichi started getting ready for the long day he was sure would come. First, a cold shower. Kokichi hummed all his favorite Danganronpa BGM’s for the whole duration of the shower, and when he stepped out he looked at himself in the mirror while drying himself with a towel. He stared at his dark, plum colored hair for a moment, maybe someday he would get to gather the courage to dye it purple like he always wanted to. Kokichi stepped out the bathroom, not really bothering to dry his hair much carefully because it always ended up looking the same- it kind of reminded himself of a cute octopus, so he didn’t mind it at all- he started putting on his best looking jeans and his special totally-limited-special-edition Monokuma themed shirt. 

“I bet everyone will be impressed, after all this is top-notch Danganronpa merch. Maybe even Shuichi-chan will notice it! Ah, I almost forgot!”

Kokichi kneeled down, reaching under his bed for a cardboard box with his name written on it. He quickly opened it, placing the lid on the floor carefully. Inside the box was a collection of many Danganronpa themed stuff, Kokichi grabbed the cutesy pink cat-shaped backpack, attaching a few keychains to it and throwing it over his shoulder. He covered the box again before pushing it back under his bed and rushing to wear the checkered shoes his dad gave him on his last birthday- he never really gave the shoes any special treatment, and he didn’t even like checkered stamps before someone online pointed out how it reminded them of Monokuma’s monochromatic theme, and now he just couldn’t stop wearing them.

Kokichi’s parents weren’t home, as expected, so all he did was rush downstairs and go straight outside the door, quickly walking towards the train station he knew so well while checking his phone for notifications. No new notifications, so maybe Shuichi hadn’t arrived at the con yet? After paying and boarding the train, Kokichi spent most of the ride deep in thought, he tried to imagine what a con was like, what kind of people would be there, and what kind of merch he would be able to find. He had never been to an official Danganronpa convention before, so his hands were shaky with excitement, and he even would be able to make a friend there! Because there’s no way he would let his negativity and intrusive thoughts get the best of him today. He would befriend Shuichi no matter what! 

When Kokichi walked out of the train and left the station, the sight that greeted him was amazing. If Team Danganronpa wanted to make it obvious the convention was going on right now, then they made a splendid job. The hangar definitely stood out in the boring gray of the city constructions around it, two giant balloons were stuck to each side of the hangar, one being Monokuma-shaped and the other being Junko-themed. Kokichi giggled at the scene, for obvious reasons Team Danganronpa always pampered these two characters the most. Well, Kokichi would be lying if he said he didn’t have a soft spot for the charismatic yet obnoxious bear-mascot, and Junko Enoshima had her charms, really. Walking closer to the entrance, the quantity of people around started to grow and Kokichi stared in awe at the people cosplaying their favorite characters. His cheeks burned red when a girl who was cosplaying Chiaki Nanami caught him staring, but she was very gentle and offered to take a selfie with him, which he quickly accepted despite being extremely awkward and shy. She waved him goodbye and even complimented his backpack, what made Kokichi’s smile grow wider since Chiaki was his favorite character in the whole franchise! 

It hadn’t even been thirty minutes and Kokichi was already ready to give today the ‘best day of my life’ title. He wasn’t able to talk to anyone else due to his shyness, but Kokichi was just glad to be surrounded by one of the things he loved the most. 

Everything he sees is Danganronpa. It’s perfect. 

No, actually, it’s almost perfect. Because there’s one thing missing: Shuichi Saihara.

Kokichi grabbed his phone from his pants’ pocket and refreshed Shuichi’s twitter account only to be greeted with no updates whatsoever. He frowned, sitting down on a Truth Bullet themed bench and glaring daggers at his phone. He tried Shuichi’s blog, nothing. He tried Shuichi’s Facebook, nothing. Damn, he even tried Shuichi’s YouTube account! The day had started so perfectly, but now he could feel his negative side starting to go out of control. What if Shuichi wasn’t coming? He was the main reason Kokichi came so far. He just wanted to be able to meet Shuichi, but now it was all over. 

”There’s no way an opportunity will ever show up again...” Kokichi whispered to himself staring blankly at his locked phone screen. Not even his Usami phone strap was helping cheer him up now. Kokichi’s hopes had been shattered, and now all that was left was pure despair. In the end he wasn’t able to do it. Nothing could lift his spirits up now. Nothing. Not even the notification bubble that just popped up. Nothing.

...

”Huh?!” Kokichi rushed to tap on the notification, almost messing up his phone password twice before being able to unlock it.

**saisai** @shuu1chi — _Haha! Just arrived at the convention. Sorry for the lack of updates, I forgot to charge my phone and now its battery is on 1%. Anyone near booth 53 would be kind enough as to lend me a charger?_

Kokichi’s heart started beating really fast as he quickly got up and ran to the nearest booth, checking its number. 27. Alright, he could make it! He will be the one to lend Shuichi his charger! 

Soon enough Kokichi noticed that running through the crowd proved itself to be a hard task even for someone as small as himself, and he lost count of how many apologies he whispered to the people he bumped into. He started to slow down, gasping for air and bending over a random booth to try and recover from all the running. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea from the start, Kokichi thought as his body reminded him that he isn’t a very athletic person. After a few minutes he was able to get a hold of himself, and he glanced up at the booth number. 50. Shuichi was near! Kokichi quickly recovered and started walking- no more running!- around, trying to find the other boy. His eyes scanned the booths one by one, searching for the characteristic black covered by white strips hat Shuichi always wore, what also proved itself to be a hard task due to the fact Kokichi was so short he could barely see the top of peoples’ heads around him.

_‘Maybe if he wasn’t wearing his hat this would be so much easier! There’s no way I would miss that cute cowlick.’_ Kokichi couldn’t hold himself back from giggling at the thought. He wonders if anyone else outside of Shuichi’s high school ever had the chance to admire the boy without that hat. Since that day one week ago, Kokichi liked to think he was the only one who had experienced such scene.

That was when, from the corner of his eyes, Kokichi saw it. Black, with white strips, and a star-shaped pin. He quickly turned his head towards that hat, and then he froze. It wasn’t the first time he saw Shuichi in person, no he had done this many times before. It wasn’t different only because he was always hiding before, right? Except that it was. And Kokichi felt the weight of all the promises he made to himself suddenly become too much for him to handle. He quickly sprinted and hid behind a weirdly, yet conveniently placed Makoto Naegi cardboard cutout, moving his hand to grab at his chest in a desperate attempt to calm his fast-beating heart down. He peeked out his hiding place and, oh my God there’s no way this is happening. Shuichi had just finished attaching the charger to a power outlet, and now he was typing something on his phone with a sharp smile that would have looked creepy if Kokichi didn’t know better. 

Kokichi hid again the moment Shuichi turned to the cardboard cutout’s direction. And started walking towards it. And- 

”Agh, this is bad!” Kokichi whispered to himself through gritted teeth. He wasn’t ready yet! This was going too fast. He started to panic, considering all the options he had, but no matter what they all led him to the same outcome and there’s no way Shuichi won’t think someone running out from behind a cardboard cutout isn’t weird or suspicious. Kokichi felt his hands starting to get sweaty again. _’Really?!! Now he’s gonna think I’m creepy_ and _gross!’_ But Kokichi’s thoughts were interrupted by a voice. 

“What the hell? Why is there a Makoto Naegi cardboard cutout, but no Kirigiri Kyoko?”

Kokichi froze again, holding his breath and quickly covering his mouth with his right hand. _‘It’s Shuichi!’_ Kokichi could recognize the other boy’s voice from when he had followed Shuichi to a fast food drive through before. He would have giggled if it wasn’t for the current situation he was in, because that memory led him to remembering Shuichi really had the nerve to always buy food at the drive through while riding his bicycle.

“This is stupid, if I didn’t respect Team Danganronpa so much I would say they have bad taste. Like, I get Naegi is the protagonist but really, Kirigiri did most of the work. Why are detective characters always so underrated?” Kokichi stood in silence, listening to Shuichi’s rant for what seemed like an eternity. Was Shuichi talking to himself this whole time? It seemed likely as Kokichi never heard any kind of reply. The suspense was killing him, and all functional parts of his brain were mentally begging for Shuichi to just _leave already so I can stop hiding_.

Luckily enough, after about fifteen minutes Shuichi seemed to finally give up. Kokichi peeked out again, watching Shuichi walk away while mumbling something about bringing justice to detective characters one day. With a deep sigh, Kokichi left his hiding place trying to do it as unsuspiciously as possible, feeling relieved after doing so and noticing the people around too engrossed in their own activities to even notice his presence at all. But a quick glance around confirmed that Shuichi was nowhere to be seen, and Kokichi felt mild panic start to rise in his chest again, he can’t believe he’s letting his shyness and anxiety get in the way. But surely looking around the whole hangar would take ages, and running wasn’t an option either... The opportunity to befriend Shuichi had been right there, and Kokichi just let it slip through his fingers...!

Kokichi was still holding his phone even after all this time, but his grip on it weakened when it vibrated for a second. He stumbled to unlock his phone, being greeted by Shuichi’s most recent update.

**saisai** @shuu1chi — _Thank you so much to the random guy who lent me your charger. I will be at the cosplay room so feel free to come by to retrieve it in about an hour._

_’Huh! So that’s where he is!_ Kokichi started walking towards the direction of said room, he couldn’t help but think of this as some kind of hide-and-seek game, where he’s the one who has to follow and find Shuichi. Kokichi wonders if Shuichi knows he’s being followed and is hiding on purpose, but he quickly brushes the thought off. No, of course he doesn’t know, Kokichi isn’t that careless as to make it obvious he was totally-not-stalking Shuichi.

After a few minutes of walking and bumping into at least four Komaeda Nagito cosplayers- really, why is it always Komaeda?- Kokichi reached his objective, and his grip on his backpack straps tightened. This time he would do it, no hesitation! Taking a deep breath, Kokichi stepped inside the room and, surely enough, there was Shuichi, all sparkly eyes and kinda eerie smile while holding a camera.

As soon Shuichi turned to look at Kokichi, and their eyes met, it was a blissful moment. A moment led by fate. A moment filled with hope! Kokichi felt like he was drowning in the faded golden of Shuichi’s eyes, taking in every detail of his face, from his exceptionally long eyelashes to the soft shape of his jawline. Even if he looked a bit greasier than normal, he was still beautiful. Perfect. Ethereal. Even more now that he’s getting closer. And closer. And clo- wait, closer?

”Are you even listening to me?”

Kokichi felt he blood rush to his cheeks, he couldn’t believe he had not only been staring, he had also been daydreaming this whole time. And now Shuichi was right in front of him, frowning, and Kokichi had no idea what the other boy had just said.

”Uhm! Y-yes!” Kokichi facepalm’ed mentally. He only said one word and he’d already stammered, great.

“Then what did I just say?” Shuichi said and stared at him blankly. Kokichi always knew he was a terrible liar, but to be read so easily was just plain embarrassing! They stood in silence for about a minute before Shuichi sighed, a bored expression replacing the blank look from before. “I said this area is for cosplayers only. So, basically, you can’t stay here.”

Realization dawned on Kokichi’s face, but his mouth moved before his brain could formulate a proper answer. “Then how come you’re allowed inside?”

Kokichi was ready to be screamed at for the stupid witty remark. He doesn’t know why he asked, he already knew Shuichi had a special pass for most Danganronpa related events. He really was starting to think there’s no way this would work, no way Shuichi would ever want to be friends with someone as ridiculous and pathetic as him. After a few seconds Kokichi considered turning his back to Shuichi and running as fast as possible, but as soon as he was about to put his plan in motion, the other boy started laughing vividly and Kokichi found himself hypnotized by the sound.

“I- what? I just- hehe- hahah! Really? What the fuck-“ Shuichi pointed to the camera he was holding while he tried to catch his breath. “I’m part of the staff! See? I take pictures for my blog. Oh my God! That was the funniest shit I’ve heard today.”

Kokichi felt the need to laugh despite him himself being the source of the joke, for some reason seeing Shuichi happy made him feel at ease. He giggled lightly. “I-I guess? Thank you?”

“It’s nothing! But, for real, I can’t let you stay if you’re not wearing cosplay. That would be a direct insult to the sacred texts.” Shuichi smiled sadly, pointing at a chalkboard on the wall where some rules were written. 

• _Non-cosplayers aren’t allowed inside._

Kokichi pouted at the stupid chalkboard. How were people supposed to take pictures with their favorite cosplayers, then? 

“Ahah, don’t look so sad! This place is kind of a zone for the cosplayers to rest without feeling stressed, you know. Ah! Wait, I know-“ 

Shuichi had ran to a corner in the room and disappeared without finishing his sentence. Kokichi tried to imagine what the boy was talking about, he thought maybe Shuichi was looking for a way to politely kick him out or something. But he strongly hoped that wasn’t the case when he watched Shuichi come back with his hands behind his back, the camera hanging from his neck like an oversized necklace.

“I figured you must be a huge fan, because of your totally-limited-special-edition Monokuma shirt! There’s just no way I could stop someone who loves Danganronpa from enjoying it!” The sparkle was back to Shuichi’s eyes as soon as he mentioned the killing game. “I like you, so I will help you!”

That sentence made Kokichi immediately look at his feet in complete embarrassment. Shuichi liked him? So they were friends now, right? Immersed in his thoughts, Kokichi barely noticed when his bangs were lifted and held back in place by a hairband with fuzzy white cat ears glued to the top of it. When Kokichi came back to his senses and lifted his head back up, he saw Shuichi’s phone in front of him with the front camera function on, and he quickly noticed the ears that weren’t there before.

“Ehhh?!” Kokichi squealed in surprise, he moved his hand to try and take the hairband off only to have Shuichi swiftly grab his wrist.

“Now you can say you’re cosplaying the Ultimate Furry from season 34! Because you watched it, didn’t you? Of course you did. You’re a huge fan after all! You even snapped at me when I tried to say you couldn’t come inside here!” Kokichi wanted to tell Shuichi that him ‘snapping’ was totally an accident, but he decided against it because the hold on his wrist reminded him Shuichi still hadn’t let go of him. “So now you can stay, okay? But don’t take them off, okay? Someone might try to kick you out again. And you don’t want that, do you? You want to enjoy Danganronpa as much as you can, right?”

Kokichi winced a bit when the grip on his wrist tightened, before disappearing completely. Shuichi let go of him and seemed ready to turn his back to Kokichi and leave, but again Kokichi’s mouth worked faster than his brain.

”Wait, Saihara-kun!”

Kokichi thought about how ugly Shuichi’s surname sounded in his own voice in comparison to the cute affectionate ‘Shuichi-chan’ he used to refer to Shuichi whenever he was all by himself, but he didn’t want to disrespect Shuichi right after meeting him, so of course calling him by his surname was only natural.

Except that it wasn’t. Because no one was supposed to know Shuichi’s surname, even if they were ordinary fans from the online Danganronpa fandom, and Kokichi’s hand quickly moved to cover his mouth right after realizing his mistake.

Shuichi seemed to have frozen in place, his back turned to Kokichi so the shorter boy had no idea what kind of expression he was making. Was he surprised? Angry? Scared? _Probably all of these_ , Kokichi thought. That’s it, he had completely messed up. It was time to run and not even the chance of bumping into every Komaeda cosplayer in the whole world could stop him from running away now-

”You- do you know me?” Shuichi slowly turned back, facing Kokichi with a look of nothing but curiosity on his face. Then, he moved a hand to his chin. “Wait, wait. Even if you knew me online, you wouldn’t be able to know that much.” Soon his expression turned into a more twisted one, a smile on his face as Shuichi stared down at Kokichi with accusing eyes. “Don’t tell me... you’re one of those real creepy real weirdo stalker fans, aren’t you? And here I thought I could trust the small cute boy with a Chiaki Nanami backpack.”

Kokichi shook his head violently. He wasn’t like that! He was totally following-around-not-stalking Shuichi, but still, he wasn’t like that! “N-No! I mean, I- I can explain.”

”No, really, it’s fine! C’mon, tell me what you’ve got. Do you, like, research people’s backgrounds in the Danganronpa fandom? Or do you only stalk the most famous and popular ones? What about the translators? Do you know their real names? Where they live? Are they here right now? Or, or- maybe you’re someone big in the fandom even though you’re just a wimpy guy in reality? Are you part of Team Danganronpa?!” Kokichi never thought talking to Shuichi would be this much of an emotional roller coaster. So this was the full extent of Shuichi’s passion for Danganronpa? Somehow it didn’t bother Kokichi that much, even when he could see a bit of drool escaping Shuichi’s lips as he sputtered question after question. He thought maybe he should be creeped out by the other boy’s behavior, but all he felt was embarrassment at receiving so much attention from the person he’d admired the most for the past year.

Kokichi hesitated a bit and took a deep breath before replying. “I- I prefer to not talk about that.” A safe route, good one Kokichi! He extended his hand towards Shuichi, who eyed him curiously. “I would... like to be friends, if p-possible. If you want to, of course.”

Kokichi noticed Shuichi bite his lip only a bit, as if he was hesitating or trying to figure out if there was something suspicious about the offer. An unnoticeable drop of sweat rolled down Kokichi’s forehead- or at least he hoped it was unnoticeable- while he waited for a reaction. And waited. And waited.

Until Shuichi’s voice broke the silence and tension that formed around them. “What are you expecting me to do, exactly?”

“Uh.” Kokichi felt a bit lost, surely Shuichi knew what a handshake is, right? “Uh. You, uh, shake my hand? I guess. If- If you want to be friends?”

”But what if I don’t want to be friends?” Shuichi moved one of his hands back to his chin, humming lightly, and Kokichi felt his heart stop beating right there and then. “Should I just, like, walk away and leave you to talk to yourself? Or pretend this never happened at all?”

”I- I guess that’s okay too-“

“Ah! But don’t get me wrong. I do want to be friends, so the other questions don’t matter at all!” Shuichi’s smile returned as he grabbed and shook Kokichi’s hand stiffly, _it’s almost as if he is nervous_ , Kokichi thought before shaking back awkwardly. “I’m Shuichi Saihara. Ultimate Fanboy, if you may. But you already knew that!”

Kokichi answered with a grin of his own. It’s true that he already knew about Shuichi’s ‘ultimate talent’, because the boy occasionally referred to himself like that on many posts and even on his public profiles. “Kokichi Ouma. I never tried to decide what kind of Ultimate I would be.” He whispered the last part sheepishly.

Shuichi seemed amused by that. “Woah! Really? C’mon, Ouma-kun, I will help you decide! But first, you should probably take these furry ears off, since we’re leaving this place now. I admit they were funny at the start, but I don’t want people outside to think you look ridiculous!”

Kokichi blushed and laughed a bit, reaching to take the hairband off carefully, before noticing Shuichi had already started walking towards the room’s door. He left the hairband on a desk and rushed to Shuichi’s side. “But wait- what about the guy who lent you the charger? Weren’t you supposed to wait for him?”

Shuichi hummed as if thinking before replying. “I’m assuming you know this because you follow me on twitter.” Kokichi avoided eye contact at the obvious insinuation, but Shuichi didn’t seem bothered by it. “I don’t really care about that. I left the charger there so he can look for it if he really wants to.”

A comfortable silence fell between the both of them as they walked towards the center of the convention, where the official products’ booths were placed. Kokichi’s eyes automatically moved to stare at a Chiaki Nanami figure and he mentally wondered if the money he brought would be enough to buy the figure and pay for the train tickets back home later. Probably not.

Shuichi noticed the short boy’s turmoil and walked towards the booth, attracting the seller’s attention. “Excuse me, how much does that figure cost?”

Kokichi’s eyes widened as he grabbed Shuichi’s sleeve. “W-what are you doing?” He blurted out, earning a genuinely confused look from Shuichi.

”You want it, don’t you? And friends buy each other gifts, right?” Shuichi’s voice sounded so innocent Kokichi wondered if he really didn’t mind gifting something so expensive to someone he just met. “Besides, if you take it with you everywhere, and look at it everyday, you will never stop thinking of me, and you will never be able to forget me.”

Part of Kokichi’s brain kept desperately screaming at him, telling him that it hadn’t even been two hours since he met Shuichi and the other boy had already waved at least 4 red flags right in front of Kokichi’s face. But after coming so far, Kokichi didn’t want to back off now. He had seen good sides of Shuichi in the past hour too so he couldn’t be that bad, right? Also, it’s not like Shuichi was wrong. It was somewhat embarrassing to admit, but Kokichi’s mind was always filled with thoughts about Shuichi. Always.

So, Kokichi decided to just nod quietly. There was no coming back. He was completely in for the ride that was Shuichi Saihara, and he was determined to never leave the other boy’s side. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know some of you must be thinking “Woah this isn’t nearly edgy enough. They should be way more fucked up than this!” Or something. I really don’t consider myself good at writing angsty or edgy situations at all so for that I apologize. I can only see pre-game Ouma as really-depressed-really-lonely wimpy Danganronpa-plot obsessed boy and pre-game Saihara as someone totally alienated from social situations because he lives alone and doesn’t have friends so he doesn’t really know how to act or how to interact with people outside of his little online Danganronpa bubble. But they both love the game so much they’re willing to do anything for it. And somehow they click together and end up becoming best friends I guess.


	3. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ehhh it’s nearly 5am right now and I used this epilogue mostly as a way to write some of my headcanons and also it’s kind of vent writing so forgive me if it sounds weird or too self indulgent or badly written... I just wanted this story to be something special to myself because pre-game SaiOuma is really important to me in terms of comfort.. 
> 
> Anyway, try to guess who drew fanart of their own fanfic. Me, I did. Because I’m the supreme alpha loser.
> 
> https://orig00.deviantart.net/a105/f/2018/047/c/f/2c_by_takamines-dc3dd73.png

At three in the morning, Kokichi found himself waking up utterly startled and disoriented. His hands gripped the bed sheets in an attempt to ground himself, while his eyes frantically scanned the room he was in- wondering briefly if he forgot to turn his night lamp on because _why the fuck is it so dark in here._

He tried to move but all his limbs except his hands and toes seemed to be at total discordance with his orders. Kokichi could feel a strong headache approaching but blamed it on the fact he just woke up suddenly and he doesn’t know where he is, or why does he feel really hot right now, and why can he hear someone breathing so close to him. The sound is making him shiver and Kokichi just wishes he could turn his head and find where it is coming from but his body still refuses to comply, and it frustrates him to no end. Trying to think logically- or as logically as someone can in the middle of a nocturnal panic attack while feeling a drop of sweat run down their forehead- Kokichi scanned the room once again looking for the source of whatever it was that made him feel so hot, but his eyes automatically stopped at something resting on his chest. He felt his heart stop for a second at the thought that maybe it’s something dangerous and he’s going to die right here and now, unable to do anything about it because his body _still_ isn’t moving.

The thought doesn’t last too long though, because upon close inspection Kokichi realizes it’s an arm and it isn’t doing anything dangerous, the hand attached to it just holding weakly into Kokichi’s pajama top. For some reason his brain still can’t process, the realization is able to make Kokichi’s body relax and he feels his heart pace starting to normalize. The waves of anguish inside his brain start to fade and although he is still mostly confused as to where he is, Kokichi is glad the panic is gone. 

After a few minutes of breathing and trying to assimilate the situation, Kokichi hesitantly moves his head to his side, blinking so his eyes adjust to the darkness and taking in the scene he’s looking at.

Shuichi, because of course it’s Shuichi, is the source of not only the steady breathing sound but of the body heat that engulfs Kokichi right now too. And also owner of aforementioned arm, which is still holding his chest, but Kokichi doesn’t feel nearly as bothered by it anymore. Things start to click together and Kokichi remembers. He remembers that it’s so dark because this isn’t, in fact, his room, remembers it’s Saturday and they always have sleepovers on Saturdays, remembers the reason why Shuichi clings to him at night is because he isn’t able to sleep without holding onto something.

Kokichi’s lips form a small smile at the relief of finally being fully aware of what’s going on. His mind wanders into an old memory, from when he first learned about Shuichi’s sleeping problems, and Kokichi has to hold back from giggling even though he knows Shuichi is a heavy sleeper. Kokichi tries to entertain the thought of how things would be if Shuichi never had left the other boy alone inside his apartment, and if he never had the chance to stab Shuichi’s Monokuma plush with a kitchen knife, one week after finding out the plush was what he usually clung to at night. Maybe then Shuichi wouldn’t have offered for them to share the bed, and Kokichi would still find himself sleeping on Shuichi’s room’s floor every Saturday. The thought makes him frown slightly because, no, he doesn’t regret it. Shuichi wasn’t even _that_ upset when he found out the plush had gone missing mysteriously, so Kokichi is more than happy with the overall result.

Since they met at the Danganronpa con a few months ago they’d become inseparable, quickly skipping through the initial stages of friendship and jumping into claiming each other as best friends. Kokichi thought it was delightful, really, and even though a little part of his brain was apprehensive about Shuichi in the start, it didn’t take long for him to understand that Shuichi’s weird-borderline-creepy behavior wasn’t caused by malice, but from a lack of experience. Much like Kokichi, Shuichi didn’t have many- if any- friends outside of the online bubble that was the Danganronpa fandom, the difference between them being the fact Kokichi had his family around. Shuichi said he had been living alone for the most part of his teenage years once, and mentioned that his parents sent him money every month so he could survive on his own without a job. He also told Kokichi he only stopped skipping school because he had gotten held back a year due to his constant absence. Back then, Kokichi thought that a life like that must have been lonely, being a shut-in without even your family to keep you company.

So damn lonely.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kokichi looks again at the boy laying besides him, and carefully reaches a hand to the tip of his pillowcase, using it to dry off a bit of drool that just escaped Shuichi’s lips. He smiles fondly and finds it hard to not get caught in the moment, because he is just _so_ glad he met Shuichi, because he adores Shuichi _so_ much. They are no longer lonely and sad souls, because now they have each other. Learning things together, playing games together, often spending time at each other’s houses, having someone to hang out with, talking about Danganronpa to each other, _watching Danganronpa together_ , he is just so happy, glad, and he’s sure Shuichi feels the same. Kokichi swears he’d die before letting anyone take all this away from him.

Once Kokichi feels his eyelids starting to feel heavy again, he doesn’t fight against it, embracing the drowsiness that surrounds him, with the image of Shuichi’s peaceful sleeping face being the last thing on his mind before falling asleep himself.

* * *

When the sunlight coming from the thin cracks in the window shutter reach his eyes, waking Kokichi up from his light state of sleep, he grunts moving a hand to try and protect his face from the unwelcome rays of light. He feels like all the bones in his body have been replaced by noodles but he can’t really recall most of what happened during the night, so he gives up trying to understand where this indisposition is coming from, and instead focus on blinking and trying to adjust his vision. The fact that the walls are all painted gray helps a bit and soon enough Kokichi is able to tell that he didn’t magically teleport during the night so, of course, he’s still in Shuichi’s room. He looks at the other side of the bed, and feels mildly confused because Shuichi isn’t there. That is enough to make Kokichi frown, because Shuichi _never_ wakes up before him.

The sound of the door opening startles Kokichi to the point he sits up on the bed in a rush, and he decides it was a terrible idea because now his brain won’t stop spinning.

”I didn’t know you were awake!” 

Shuichi exclaims and doesn’t even look up from his phone as he enters the room and promptly throws himself on the bed besides Kokichi, who is still rubbing the bridge of his nose trying to soothe his headache and dizziness. 

”I should be the one saying that. It’s unusual for you to wake up so early, Saihara-kun.”

Shuichi looks up from his phone, glancing at Kokichi only for a second before returning his attention towards the device. “I told you it’s alright to call me Shuichi when we’re alone.”

Kokichi feels his heart skip a beat at that. “Alright, Shuichi-kun.” It’s not as cute as Shuichi-chan, he thinks, but _close enough_. “Still, now that you woke up earlier than me, you better have at least made us breakfast while you were at it.”

Shuichi’s shoulders shake lightly, before he goes full laughter mode, and Kokichi smiles because he knows Shuichi is the only person in the whole world who would laugh at his worse-than-soggy-bread sense of humor. Shuichi almost drops his phone, shoving his face into the pillows in an attempt to muffle his laughing fit, and Kokichi finds himself giving up into laughter as well.

Once they stop laughing, both of them are laying on their backs, facing the ceiling in a comfortable kind of silence. Kokichi is still trying to catch his breath when Shuichi sighs contently and turns to his side, one hand on his cheek holding his head up as he eyes Kokichi with a smile. Kokichi tries hard to stop the blush from running into his cheeks because Shuichi is really too pretty for his own good.

”Say, Ouma-kun.... do you think I would be a good Ultimate Detective?”

What an unusual question. Shuichi never questions his Ultimate Fanboy talent. Kokichi raises an eyebrow.

“What? Why?”

”Ah-a... I’ve just been thinking...” Shuichi grabs his phone again, and points at something on the screen, but Kokichi is too distracted looking at Shuichi’s expression to notice. “I think... no, I’m sure... I want to audition for Danganronpa next season...!”

Kokichi finally moves his eyes from his friend’s face into the phone screen, and there it is, written in full bolded letters.

**Auditions for Danganronpa V3 starting soon!**

An unease feeling places itself inside Kokichi’s guts, but he tries to shove it away because _Oh my God they could be the next ones to participate in Danganronpa._ And there’s very little things that he would consider a bigger honor than that.

”Isn’t it amazing, Ouma-kun? We can audition... and if they accept us, we’re gonna be famous! It will be amazing I can already see it, I feel like I can convince them with all the plans I have for executions, and you know how creative I can get with murder plans. And- and I know it’s kind of an over used trope but- an Ultimate Detective has never been the blackened before. It’s so innovative, Ouma-kun. I have it all planned already.” Shuichi was totally rambling, but Kokichi didn’t feel bothered by it at all, because there was a special shine on the other boy’s eyes while he talked and talked, explaining just how _perfect_ this opportunity was for the both of them, because of course Shuichi wanted his best friend to come along, so they could share this experience of absolute bliss with each other. Kokichi feels happy, he feels lucky. Because Shuichi wants to share this with him, wants to share Danganronpa, the thing Shuichi loves the most, with him. “We can change ourselves, become better. You can dye your hair like you always wanted to it would look so good, and I can- I can stop wearing my hat- don’t you always say I look cooler without it? And then- even when we die in the game, no one will ever be able to forget us.”

There’s too much to process at once, but Shuichi is still beaming at Kokichi so innocently, looking at him with an expression that could only be described as hope. So, Kokichi smiles, genuinely, because the only thing he’d consider a honor bigger than participating in a season of Danganronpa would be participating in a season of Danganronpa _with Shuichi._

”You’d be a perfect Ultimate Detective, Shuichi-kun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly wrote most stuff in this fic from my own experience, from the stalking shit in the prologue, to the stabbing teddy bear thing in this epilogue. Thanks for reading and I hope it was enjoyable somehow even if I don’t consider myself a capable writter.

**Author's Note:**

> Both the prologue and the epilogue are going to be be short since the main focus of the fic is the one and only chapter in it. I will try to update before next week. Thank you again for reading!
> 
> Also I have suffered from being stalked IRL before so although I am writing from my own experience, I would like to let y’all know it sucks when it reaches a certain point and if it makes the targeted person uncomfortable it can be really unhealthy and it shouldn’t be romanticized.


End file.
